train movies

The Lady Vanishes 1938 train movie

The Lady Vanishes (1938, United Kingdom)

Running time: 97 minutes

Language: English

Somewhere in Europe, in some mountainous little country called Bandrika, spring avalanches put the railways into halt. Passengers from one of the trains are forced to stay in Gasthof Petrus in picturesque village, among them are few foreigners, including elderly British woman Miss Froy. One of the tourists staying in the hotel is Iris Henderson, young woman returning to Great Britain to get married. During the night both women are irritated by the noises from the room above, caused by Gilbert Redman, musician trying to learn the local dances from hotel staff. Iris calls the manager of the hotel, who throws Redman out of his room. With no better options Redman visits Iris and threatens he will stay here if he won’t get his room back. Young woman convinces the manager to give Redman his room back, so she could finally get some sleep. In the morning the avalanche was cleared and the passengers can board the train again. Iris is hit on the head by falling piece of train station elevation. Miss Foy helps her get on the train and takes care of her while Iris is indisposed. When young woman wakes up Miss Foy is nowhere to be found and no one aboard seems to remember even seeing her...

Classic Alfred Hitchcock thriller set aboard a train in fictional country of Bandrika (not unlike the raising Third Reich), where set of colourful characters take part in simple story that gets more and more complicated with each minute. Hitchcock created atmosphere that later became a trademark for his work - person that seems isolated from rest of the world and on a verge of going insane.